THOUSANDS of miles will be driven in aid of charity, thanks to the support of a Chippenham car repair centre.

The ARC group's Chippenham branch pledged £700 towards the Miles4Malawi challenge, being carried out by three 19-year-olds.

Theo Gammie, Charlie Knight and Tim Turek will travel over 10,000 miles through 22 countries to raise money for the charities, Open Arms Malawi and Cool Earth.

Chris Pomroy, managing director of the ARC group, was eager to support the cause as soon as he heard about the event.

He said: "I was really keen to get involved and help raise money for very worthy charities.

"It will be a great life experience for the boys."

The Miles4Malawi team will make the journey in a tiny one litre Suzuki Alto across 4 mountain ranges, 3 deserts, and 21 international borders.

Charlie explained the three of them enjoy a challenge and the idea of 'just us and our tiny 1L Suzuki Alto, totally unsupported, sounded awesome'.

Theo said: "Our car is as good as guaranteed to break down.

"When we took on this challenge, we could probably just about change a tyre between us.

"We’ve got a couple of corporate sponsors, and must give a huge thanks to The ARC Group, who have given us tonnes of support to help make all this possible."

The team set off from Bath on July 10, and have travelled over 1,350 miles since then.

Open Arms Malawi, who Tim and Theo have previously volunteered for, provide care to orphaned and abandoned children in the impoverished parts of the African nation.

Tim described the two weeks of volunteer work as ' an extremely hard but rewarding experience'.

Cool Earth is a charity that encourages local communities to protect the rainforests from deforestation.

Donations can be made online on the team's fundraising page.: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/miles4malawi

To live track the team's progress, go to: http://eur-share.inreach.garmin.com/miles4malawi